UFC Light Heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux was set to take on Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 104, but following an injury to Blachowicz, he had to pull out of the bout, and has been replaced.
The man that will replace Blachowicz is Volkan Oezdemir, who will make his promotion debut at the event. Oezdemir has 13-professional MMA fights, and has only been the distance twice.
UFC.com announced the news.
Saint Preux (19-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC went 4-0 in his first four UFC bouts, with three stoppage victories. That streak was snapped, though, when he faced Ryan Bader; ‘OSP’ lost a unanimous decision in his first main event fight. Saint Preux rebounded from the loss with two first round KO victories, the first coming against Shogun Rua at UFC Uberlandia, and the second coming against Patrick Cummins. The 33-year-old was then submitted by Glover Teixeira before taking a decision over Brazilian Rafael Cavalcante. The Florida native then faced former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, but lost the bout via decision. In his most recent outing, OSP was knocked out by Jimi Manuwa in the second round of their bout at UFC 204.
Oezdemir (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will be the first Swiss fighter to step foot into the octagon on February 4th. The 27-year-old started his professional MMA career 10-0 before suffering his first loss. That loss was a submission loss to Kelly Anundson at Bellator 115. Oezdemir, who’s nickname is “cousin” rebounded from the loss with a first round stoppage victory over Paco Estevez in Switzerland. In his most recent outing, the Swiss native went to the judges for only the second time, winning a unanimous decision in his fight against Alikhan Vakhaev at Akhmat Fight Show 18.
UFC Fight Night 104 takes place live from the Toyoto Center in Houston, Texas on February 4th, 2017. The card is set to be headlined by a featherweight contest between Dennis Bermudez and Chan Sung Jung.
